World’s largest cashew tree
The Pirangi cashew tree in Brazil, recognised by Guinness Records as the world’s largest cashew tree, covers 8,400 square metres with a circumference of 500 metres.
Legend has it that the tree was planted in 1888 by a local fisherman who later died under its shade. However, experts believe that, based on its growth characteristics, “the tree is estimated to be more than a thousand years old.”
The tree produces over 60,000 cashew fruits per year and attracts thousands of tourists. Studies indicate that a genetic anomaly causes its branches to grow sideways rather than upwards. Weight and gravity cause the branches to bend toward the ground, and on making contact with the soil, new roots form, allowing the tree to continue expanding. It is almost impossible to distinguish the initial trunk from the rest of the tree.
Scientists rebuild face of 1,500-year-old mummy
Scientists have digitally reconstructed the face of the ‘gilded lady,’ a mummy from Roman-occupied Egypt who died in her 40s, possibly from tuberculosis, as detailed in the journal Anthropologie — International Journal of Human Diversity and Evolution.
The mummy, known for her golden headdress, is housed at Chicago’s Field Museum. Using CT scans and forensic techniques, the team created a youthful-looking face with short curly hair and a slight overbite. The process involved reconstructing the skull and mapping facial features based on modern data.
Butter out of thin air and water
Savor, a California-based start-up backed by Bill Gates, has come up with a method to produce butter-like fat out of just carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
Since all fats are composed of chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms, Savor patented a thermochemical process to build fat molecules and then produce dairy-free alternatives to milk, butter, cheese and ice cream, which have the same texture and taste as the real thing. This process doesn’t release any greenhouse gases, uses no farmland and less than a thousandth of the water that traditional agriculture does, leaving a much lower carbon footprint than real animal fat.
The company still has a lot of challenges to overcome before bringing it to market.
Creepy ‘blood worm’ washes ashore
California whale watchers encountered an undulating blood-red sea creature that looked straight out of a horror flick.
“We found it just hanging out on our dock this morning and we gently scooped it up with some cardboard and carefully put it back in the water,” one of the whale watchers posted on Instagram.
Accompanying footage shows the long, undulating marine monster, which has rows of hair like appendages traversing each side of its body. It is actually a blood worm, a burrowing invertebrate with translucent skin that reveals its red body plasma underneath. It can grow to a foot long and has a venomous proboscis with its teeth. While it doesn’t go after humans, experts advise against putting one’s fingers close to its mouth as it could give them a bee-sting-like bite.
Published in Dawn, Young World, August 3rd, 2024
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